Archive for the ‘Indian motorcycle’ tag

Cannon Ball Baker, on one of his California to New York record runs. Photo courtesy Don Emde, AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

One hundred years ago, Erwin Baker rode into the history books by shattering the existing transcontinental motorcycle speed record, earning the nickname “Cannon Ball” in the process. Now, to mark the event’s centennial, AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductee Don Emde is leading a group-ride to retrace the route of Cannon Ball Baker, hoping to match the fabled rider’s time of 11 days, 11 hours and 11 minutes.

Baker’s 1914 route from San Diego, California, to New York City stretched for 3,379 miles, of which a mere four miles were paved and 68 miles were ridden on railroad tracks. His bike of choice was a seven-horsepower Indian, thanks to his sponsorship by the brand, and Baker had hoped to beat the existing record of 20 days by as much as three days. When he arrived in New York just shy of 11-and-a-half days later, Baker had shattered the motorcycle record and had even broken the automobile record by four days. His achievement prompted a New York reporter to tag him with the nickname “Cannon Ball,” after the Illinois Central Railroad’s seemingly unstoppable mail and passenger train.

Don Emde’s Cannon Ball Project ride was announced in 2011, and the goal behind the effort was to recreate the route traveled by Baker as accurately as possible. The ride will utilize Baker’s written notes, using the same roads, trails and routes wherever possible. Just like Baker, the group will travel through cities and towns like Yuma, Arizona; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Syracuse, Kansas; Lexington, Missouri; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Unlike Baker, however, Emde’s group likely won’t encounter “roads that look like newly plowed fields,” as Baker so eloquently described the muddy and rutted paths at the edge of cities like Columbus, Ohio.

Elnora in the sand, somewhere west of Yuma, Arizona. Photo courtesy Indian Motorcycles.

Most of Emde’s group will be riding modern dual-purpose motorcycles. Emde himself will be aboard a Yamaha Super Ténére, a mount that offers around 93 horsepower and 75 pound-feet of torque, along with seven-and-a-half inches of suspension travel, traction control and an anti-lock braking system that can be switched off for riding in loose dirt or sand. Emde’s group will have the benefit of modern GPS navigation as well, something that Canon Ball Baker couldn’t even envision in 1914. On the other hand, Baker’s run was far less complicated by factors like boundary restrictions and federal regulations that prohibit trespassing on railroad tracks.

Robert Pandya at speed on Elnora. Barry Hathaway photo, courtesy of Indian Motorcycle.

Not all of Emde’s group will be aboard such purpose-built motorcycles. As the Cannon Ball Project ride coincides with the relaunch of Indian Motorcycles (now owned by Polaris Industries), the company’s external relations manager, Robert Pandya, will ride a custom-built, retro-themed motorcycle nicknamed “Elnora” in honor of Baker’s wife. Though described by the company as a dual-purpose motorcycle, its sheer mass and apparent lack of suspension travel will mean that Pandya’s ride experience will likely differ from other members of the group.

The Cannon Ball Project team departed San Diego on schedule on Monday, May 3, and is posting daily progress updates to its Facebook page. If all goes as planned, the group will arrive in New York City on Wednesday, May 14. For additional information on the ride or the people behind it, visit CannonBallProject.com.

Friend and frequent blog contributor Mike Eldred had actually started a little family album excavating of his own before my recent request for car-related family album photos, and actually in part inspired the request, so his findings so far are worth a post of their own. We’ll start with the above photo, of which Mike writes:

Me (age 5) and my parents in Cape Elizabeth, ME, 1968.Â The occasion, I believe, was a visit from my grandparents.Â The car is a 1954 MG TF that my father bought in 1965 from a guy who was moving to California.Â He paid, get this, $400.Â Back then, the TF was the least desirable of the “T” series thanks to a lot of bad press regarding its “old and tired” design when it was launched.Â Only 9600 were built, including the MG TF 1500.Â In the ’60s the old car guys all wanted TCs (the classic) or TDs (cheap, lots of parts) and the “racer guys” wanted MGAs to modify.

Digging deeper, he found a shot of his great-great-grandfather, John Chapin.

The quality is poor, unfortunately, but according to the back it shows John & Hattie Chapin along with “Muggins,” the family dog, in the back.Â I can’t figure out what kind of car it is.Â The one unique thing that I notice about it is the way the door is curved.Â Few of the other cars of the era that I’ve seen have doors with that kind of compound geometry.Â Usually they’re flat, rectangular doors.Â Of course, I don’t know a thing about brass-era cars.

These two photos were taken c. 1930, probably in Bernardston, MA. The first one shows my great uncle Stanley Allen’s Indian (not sure what year), my great aunt Wanda (Eldred) Moody’s 1928 Model T.Â I’m not sure who the Essex (?) belonged to.

The second photo is of Aunt Wanda in her Model T.Â It was unusual at that time for a single woman to drive a car, let alone own her own car.Â But Aunt Wanda was never “conventional;” she was and independent thinker who never let obstacles stand in her way.Â I never knew her well, and that’s probably my loss.